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video processing sony a6000 vs pany GX7

I

IconicM

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 30, 2011
197
1
Houston, Tx
Well, I am trying to choose between these two cameras. I am also considering the Sony 18-105/ F4 g lens and the Oly Zuiko 12-40/ F2.8 lens respectively.

My question is in regard to video processing: which is better/ easier to process using a Mac.

I read this review, which says..

http://www.eoshd.com/content/12822/best-small-camera-108060p-panasonic-gx7-a6000-review


"Both the GX7 and A6000 shoot 1080p in AVCHD format which I dislike with a passion I usually reserve for forum trolls! I just don’t like having to navigate 80 subfolders to get to individual clips or having to suffer Apple’s appallingly buggy support for the format in Mac OSX with Quicktime gamma shifts and all sorts. Apple’s contempt for the format is visible when you try clicking an AVCHD folder to look at the contents in Quicktime, and the folder is empty. It hangs and you get an error message saying ‘operation cannot be completed’. For whatever reason Apple just aren’t hot on AVCHD.

Thankfully I found that the 1080/60p MP4 option in the GX7 has identical quality to the AVCHD mode and the same bitrate of 28Mbit/s. These clips are stored like MOV files on the GH4 in the stills folder and you can get at them easily for editing. However 24p mode is only in AVCHD and at this frame rate there’s less compression due to a greater bitrate per frame. 28Mbit/s for 60 frames is nearly double the compression over 24Mbit/s for 24 frames. However the GX7′s codec does a superb job of avoiding any really noticeable breakup in the image. The same cannot be said for the codec in the A6000, which is a bit of an Achilles heel really. Yes the A6000 does have an MP4 mode but with a drop in quality to 1440x1080p at just 12Mbit/s. The Sony AVCHD codec breaks up more easily on the A6000 and it doesn’t grade nearly as well as the GX7′s codec – at either 24p or 60p."

I am a novice and have not done any video processing what so ever. Should this review matter to me? or are the comments more applicable for pros?

I am leaning toward the Sony mainly because of the price, but I simply do not want to be buying into a camera system that is does not work well with my Mac.

My main use is walk around shooting of video and stills, mostly of my kids and possibly some sports events as they get a little older.

Thanks for your advise.
 
X

xStep

macrumors 68020
Jan 28, 2003
2,031
143
Less lost in L.A.
Your reference link is done by a guy who is a pro and also very into the details of gear. He is often testing new cameras and accessories to understand their extreme limits.

Personally I don't think an amateur needs to worry about color grading capability since most don't do much if any clean up of their videos. People build careers as color graders.

For the Sony A6000, AVCHD is the format to go with. If the recording is considered by more than one person to be substantially poorer than other cameras, than I'd say stay away from that camera. I do own an A6000 and have been impressed with the video, but haven't done much of it or had a chance to compare it in detail with other cameras. Currently I'm more interested in stills.

I just played with A6000. iMovie 10.0.3 can import all of the video files as individual clips. An older iMovie 9.0.9 can import all the video formats except 60P. So, how your Mac handles the camera depends on the version of the software you are running.

I was still able to open a 60P file in QuickTime 10 and export for use in the older version of iMovie. It was as simple as opening the PRIVATE file in the UNTITLED folder and locating the file in a visual list that comes up. For what ever reason, Sony wraps the non-MP4 files into container folder that appears as one video file. iMovie knows how to read that file and see the individual clips, and I don't doubt most modern video editing software can too. The individual MTS files can also be gotten to.

The A6000 has an odd placement for the video recording button which makes it awkward to start and stop recordings. I have to look to see if I can set one of the others buttons as the start & stop button because it really is a hassle. I mention this because I think you should walk into a store and try the camera you are interested in.
 
MCAsan

MCAsan

macrumors 601
Jul 9, 2012
4,587
442
Atlanta
Why GX7 instead of GH4? With GH4 you can do native 4k or do 1080 with fantastic details. If shooting 4k you use a frame as a good jpg still shot.
 
P

paolo-

macrumors 6502a
Aug 24, 2008
831
1
I don't have any first hand experience with the files but it seems to me that the problem is that it's not super easy to get the files to play straight from Finder. It should be fine if you just import everything into your editing software.

Final Cut Pro X has also recently added better support for the wide dynamic range and colour gamut used in the files by the a6000.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4589
 
MCAsan

MCAsan

macrumors 601
Jul 9, 2012
4,587
442
Atlanta
xStep said:
You didn't notice the mention of price? Clearly the OP isn't budgeting the GH4 price range.
Click to expand...

Correct. But there was no firm budget mentioned. If I wanted to shoot video, I think I would save my money for a 4K camera. You can make killer 1080 videos now and 4K ones when you have the computer and monitor to do that resolution.

Best of luck with the video projects.
 
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